Solo indie developer Thomas Waterzooi has announced the sequel to his previous project with the reveal of Please, Touch The Artwork 2. This oddball hidden object adventure game sees you entering a display of historical paintings, where you must guide a skeleton through these paintings, fixing up the artworks and making them look pristine, all while learning about the meaning and history behind each piece.
Touch The Artwork as a series is a concept that I really dig as an indie adventure, as both games are intent on digging into the meaning of all of the pieces, and focus on a specific historical artist. This time around, you’ll be checking out the paintings of artist James Ensor, a Belgian artist who is regarded as quite the innovator when it comes to Modern Art. It’s highbrow stuff, but Touch The Artwork really brings it right to your pocket in a digestible and friendly way for those of us who may not be as hip on the art scene as we’d like to be.
The game does this by putting you in the shoes of a guide for that aforementioned skeleton as he navigates a surreal and odd world full of mystery. You’ll have to solve puzzles to let him continue on his journey, all the while uncovering the context of each painting that he might be stuck within and finding out what it all means. It’s sort of like going to a museum, but also acts as a sort of Where’s Waldo-esque puzzle game that is sure to keep you engaged and entertained in equal measure, while also enriching the more cultural side of your brain. You might even walk away with some impressive art history knowledge to tell your friends about!
If that sounds as cool to you as it does to me, check out Please, Touch the Artwork 2 when it launches on PC and mobile sometime next year!
